The Sand Lot
by mustlovecat
Summary: Set Thanksgiving '07 on Staten Island. Danny takes a nostalgic walk down memory lane with Lindsay at his side. DL all the way!


­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­A/N My first fanfic EVER! I hope you all like it. I am a complete DL shipper and this has been replaying itself over and over in my head.

Disclaimer – C'mon. If I owned any part of this, would I be sitting home on a Friday posting DL FanFic?

"Over there, that's where Milano's Bakery used to be. Damn, they had the best canolis there," Danny explained with a nostalgic sigh, pointing across the street.

It had been six months since he and Lindsay had become official after their night on the pool table. She had spent many a Sunday on Staten Island with him since, eating dinner with and getting to know the Messer clan. Somehow, they had both managed to get Thanksgiving off this year, and so they had taken the ferry over early so Danny could take her around the old neighbourhood before the house became filled with relatives.

They had already wandered past the basketball courts and the restaurants and shops on the main strip, and now he was guiding her down a tree-lined street back into a residential neighbourhood. The houses were all old and narrow, two and three-storey brick buildings.

"Ya getting tired?" Danny asked, his girlfriend quiet as she walked alongside him, her hand in his.

"No, I'm fine. I love this," she smiled. The look on his face – the wistful joy, the calmness about him – just made her happy. He was completely in his element.

He gave her hand a squeeze as he glanced both ways up and down the street before pulling her across it. He led her off the sidewalk into the park that was set beside a public school. There was a baseball diamond and soccer field, and some children were milling around the swing set and the sandbox, the day unusually warm for late November.

"Oh, man, the guys and I used to lose track of time when we'd hit the sand lot. Louie would come find me at nightfall, Ma warning him that we'd both get it if he came back without me," Danny said with a chuckle.

Lindsay laughed.

They headed towards the baseball diamond, Danny's expression reflective. "I haven't been down here in years, but I used to spend every waking hour on this diamond. I used to dream about makin' it to the majors, playin' shortstop –"

"—for the Mets?" she teased him.

"Of course."

"Why never the Yankees?"

He looked at her as if she had three heads. "Ya kidding? Pop would have killed me if I even considered that. He'd have me up in Ontario playin' for the Toronto Blue Jays before I put on a Yankees uniform."

They reached the baseball diamond, and he stopped as they stepped across second base.

For a moment, he just looked around. "I had so many dreams back then. If I hadn't wrecked my wrist in that stupid fight …"

"You think you really would have made it?"

He shrugged, then grinned at her. "I'd like to think so. Who knows? I was good enough to get a scholarship, but – Ah, who can say? If I'd made it there, I never woulda ended up workin' for Mac, doin' a job I love just as much as I loved playin' ball. And there's a good chance we never would've met. And I gotta tell ya, Montana, _nothing_ would've been worth that."

"Danny …" She blushed slightly at his declaration.

"Ya know, Mac told me once that in this job, doing what we do, seeing what we see, ya gotta have a centre. You know, something you can focus on when things get intense, someone you can call when it's all over. And you're that for me." He turned to look at her. "When I was in that warehouse, the pain from my hand blinding, the fear that Adam and I would never make it out palpable, thinkin' 'bout you is what got me through. That and bein' grateful it was me in there and not you."

"I was so afraid when I was standing out there with Flack. I made every bargain I could with God to bring you out. I mean, we'd just started …" She bit her lip a little nervously. "The last few months have been the most amazing of my life. I've never felt this … comfortable, and content, if that makes any sense."

Danny nodded with a smile. "I get it. It's like there was something missing before, something that just always left me feeling empty or, I don't know, restless. I don't feel that anymore."

The fact that he understood her so well just cemented the already-deep love that she felt for him.

"I, uh – Damn, Montana, I never wanted this before, or at least, I never thought I did. But now, I can't imagine my life without you in it. I – Ya know, gettin' home from work, havin' you there ... Gettin' to kiss you just 'cause I can … The way you fit so perfectly against me when we're curled up together in bed. I don't ever want to lose that. And, well – Linds, I want to make it permanent."

She smiled, feeling something that surpassed mere joy. "You want us to move in together?"

"No. I mean – I mean, yeah, but not – I don't just want us to live together. I want more than that. I want …" He laughed softly. "You know, I had this whole speech prepared, but I can't remember any of it right now, so if you'll just indulge me, I'm just gonna wing it." He took her hand, dropping down to one knee right there on second base.

Lindsay's eyes widened, and her heart seemed to stop. "Oh, Danny …"

"Montana, I love you. Babe, I love you more than I ever thought possible. And I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want you to have my name and to share my space, and I want to have a family with you. I want to kiss you goodnight and feel you in my arms when I fall asleep and see you there beside me when I wake up in the morning. And I – I would be more than honoured, if you would agree to become my wife." He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a ring – a perfect diamond solitaire on a simple white gold band. Simple and elegant. Just like his Montana. "Lindsay Monroe, will you marry me?"

She was shocked. She was beyond surprised. But more than anything, she was so full of love and excitement that she thought she might burst. "Yes! Oh my God, Danny, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"

He jumped up to his feet, pulling her into his arms and swinging her around.

Lindsay screamed in happiness, but finally begged him to put her down.

When he set her back down, he took her left hand in his right and slid the ring onto it. "Perfect fit," he said, almost awed.

"Just like us," she whispered.

He cupped her face in his hands, then leaned down and kissed her passionately. When they finally realized they required oxygen, he just hugged her tightly against him. "I love you. I'm going to spend the rest of our lives showing you just how much. I promise."

Treasuring the feel of his arms around her, she just relaxed into him. "I love you too, Messer." She held her hand out in front of her, admiring her ring. In her mind, she could already picture the wedding, the reception … the honeymoon. She was going to be Mrs. Daniel Messer. She was going to be Danny's wife. She was going to be happy for the rest of her life.


End file.
